West Chester must solve IUP to earn spot in Elite Eight

Rams must upend Hawks to earn spot in Elite Eight

WEST GOSHEN >> What’s transpired in the last week and a half has completely transformed a lot for the West Chester football program – and not just in perception but in reality.

Conventional wisdom was that WCU’s season had come to an end with a home loss in the PSAC Championship Game on Nov. 11th to Indiana (Pa.). But the next day, the Golden Rams were pleasantly shocked to see that they had slipped into the NCAA Division II Playoff field, and then last weekend they made the most of it by thumping 19th ranked Shippensburg, 27-6, in round one.

“If we had ended the season with the loss to IUP, it would have been a disappointment,” said WCU head coach Bill Zwaan. “Now that we got to the playoffs and got a win, I think there is a more uplifting feel about this team. Our kids sure feel a lot better about themselves now, and that may be good going into this weekend.”

One of just 16 teams still alive, the Rams (9-3 overall) get another shot at top-ranked IUP on Saturday in round two. The No. 1 seed in Super Region I, the Crimson Hawks (11-0) had a bye last week and will be playing West Chester in back-to-back games. Kickoff from Miller Stadium is slated for noon.

“It just seems like everything has fallen into place at this point,” Indiana head coach Paul Tortorella said. “We just spent a week practicing for West Chester and we just played them. It can’t be any better than it has set up for an off week. It really went in our favor.”

For WCU, it’s a second straight rematch, and the first at Shippensburg provided a huge boost of confidence. Six weeks earlier, the Rams edged the Raiders 37-27 in a regular season clash. Last Saturday, the Rams put together one of the seasons most complete performances, never trailed, and were in command throughout.

“We are just going to have to get better, especially against IUP,” acknowledged all-conference running back Jarel Elder. “They are the number one team coming off a bye week. But we are very confident coming off (the Shippensburg) win.”

Other than playing in a different venue, not much has changed from the first IUP-WCU contest -- except for one potential difference maker: the Rams are a much more confident bunch. An accumulation of injuries led to some less than stellar performances down the stretch, including narrow wins over East Stroudsburg and Millersville.

“We really played well early against Bentley and Edinboro,” Zwaan said. “And then the injuries started to take a toll. I don’t know if we were distracted, but it certainly hurt us. Our morale went down a little bit.

“At one point late in the regular season, there was some talk in the locker room that maybe it would be better not playing in the conference championship game. Those thoughts were creeping in a little, and it wound up not mattering. But in the back of (our player’s) minds, there was that fear than IUP could knock us out of the playoffs.”

The Hawks won the first meeting, 24-7, at Farrell Stadium, but West Chester still got in to the NCAAs thanks in large part to the region’s strongest strength of schedule.

“We played hard against IUP, but I don’t know if our players were convinced we could beat them,” Zwaan pointed out. “Now, IUP did not knock us out and we have new life and we played well at Shippensburg. I really think that whole scenario gave our players a nice little lift, and then going and playing well gave them another lift.

“Maybe it all plays out in our favor. At least that’s what we are hoping for. That the kids recognize that we can play with IUP, and we will go out there and play them hard.”

At 5-1, the Rams have played pretty well on the road this fall. But they will have to make some successful adjustments in order to have a chance at IUP.

The Hawks out-rushed WCU by 144 yards, won the turnover battle 4-1, and had an eight minute edge in time of possession. But Zwaan believes that third down efficiency was the root of most of the problems. Indiana was 7-for-14, while West Chester was just 1-for-10.

“We were terrible on third down the first time against them, on both sides of the ball,” he said. “When they are on offense, we have to get them off the field. They are the type of team that just eats the clock.

“Truthfully, we had no running game at all, particularly in the first half. There is no question we have to get that going. But part of that is time of possession and the number of plays you get. (IUP’s) game is that they don’t give you many plays, so if you get the ball and you are down a couple touchdowns, your game plan starts to change. Early on we have to establish a run game.”

Once again, it should help that the Rams rolled up 220 rushing yards at Shippensburg, and Elder had 110. Against IUP, the senior from Allentown was held to 49 yards on 12 attempts.

“(Elder) has a lot of yards in his career on big runs. His longest run on us was 10 yards. We made (West Chester) one dimensional,” Tortorelli said.

“It was hard for our defense to get off the field against (IUP) and we have to do our part on offense,” added WCU quarterback Paul Dooley, who threw three interceptions against the Hawks. “But if we play the way we know we can, it will be an interesting game.

“Seeing a team once, seeing their personnel once, and then coming back around to play them again will give us a nice shot to get some revenge.”

Just a few minutes after knocking off 10-2 Shippensburg, on the road, for the second time this season, Zwaan’s first thought about a rematch with Indiana was that his team would not be afraid.

“Having played them, we now know who they are and how they are,” he said. “They are very good, but we feel like we can play with them. I know that intimidation factor is gone. We have to up our game – no doubt about it – but if we do that, we have a shot.”

Dooley agreed: “They put their shoulder pads on just like us.

“Plus, we have nothing to lose. This team has a lot of confidence right now.”